The sound the door made when it opened was not the sound of metal scraping against metal…
It was more like a quiet tear in the fabric of reality.
Ares stepped forward.
He found no ground.
No walls.
No ceiling.
He found… the void.
His eyes widened slowly, not from fear… but from that primal feeling that attacks a being when it realizes it is no longer inside a familiar world.
It was not falling.
It was not floating.
He was suspended in nothing.
The darkness here was not merely the absence of light… but the dense presence of something older than light itself.
For a moment, Ares felt that this place was not seen… it was seeing him.
As if the void possessed a silent awareness.
Moments passed — or perhaps an entire age — before the change happened.
Suddenly…
The darkness cracked.
Not with a sound… but with an inner sensation, as if perception itself had split apart.
From the depths of nothingness, four shapes began to form.
Doors.
They were not built…
They appeared, the way truth appears in a mind that was not ready for it.
They rose in space, steady without support, imposing without guards.
Above each door hung a black sign suspended by invisible chains, as if held by laws this universe did not understand.
Ares read slowly:
The Initial Understanding of the Paths of Power.
The Path of Immortal Ascension.
The Path of Elements.
The Path of the Celestial Body.
In that moment…
He felt something rare.
Not curiosity.
But a call.
That vague sensation telling you that a single step may change the shape of your fate forever.
He did not hesitate.
He walked toward the first door.
With every step closer… he felt his thoughts slowing, growing heavier, as if his mind were preparing for a burden humans were not created to carry.
He reached out his hand.
Paused for a fraction of a second.
Then pushed the door.
—
There was no transition.
He did not feel movement.
He simply…
Was somewhere else.
A simple room.
Quiet to the point of brutality.
At its center stood an old wooden table, and beside it a single chair… as if it had been waiting for him since a time beyond measure.
On the table…
A glass sphere.
Inside it, mist moved slowly, neither rising nor falling… but circling itself as if searching for a way out of its transparent prison.
Ares sat down.
The moment his body touched the chair—
The noise inside his head disappeared.
No flowing memories.
No tangled thoughts.
No questions.
Clarity.
A terrifying clarity.
As if his mind had been washed clean of all human chaos.
Suddenly…
The voice appeared.
Cold.
Toneless.
Closer to a cosmic judgment than to speech.
[System: Analysis in progress…]
Ares felt a faint prickling spread through his body, as if thousands of invisible threads were passing through him.
[Strange energy detected invading the host's body…]
[Analyzing energy…]
[…]
[…]
The voice stopped for a fraction of a second.
Then—
[Failed to determine the type of energy.]
For the first time… it seemed that something had confused the system.
[Closest result: spiritual energy of an unknown type.]
[The energy is not harmful.]
[The energy helps the host's brain relax.]
But Ares did not feel relaxed.
The clarity was unnaturally deep.
As if this place did not calm the mind…
but opened space within it for things that should not be opened.
He looked at the glass sphere.
Then at the room.
Nothing else.
No books.
No symbols.
No explanations.
Only the sphere.
As if knowledge here… was not read.
It was implanted.
He reached out his hand.
When his fingers touched the glass—
The world exploded inside his head.
Not pain.
But a flood.
Information pouring in faster than language itself.
Name: Ares
Classification: Potential anomaly
Available information level: General level — complete
The Three Paths of Power
The Path of Immortal Ascension
The most common path among the worlds.
Almost any being can begin it.
A path that unifies the soul, body, and energy.
It is based on absorbing spiritual energy, refining it within the body, then refining the body…
until it becomes a vessel suitable for a higher soul.
Then the soul is refined.
Then the ascent begins.
The Primary Realms of the Path of Immortal Ascension:
The Human Realm — nine sub-realms.
Realm #####
Realm #####
Realm #####
Realm #####
Realm #####
Every hidden name made Ares's mind tremble.
How many realms existed that humans had never even heard of?
Primary Orientations Within the Path
The Natural Orientation
Often called the righteous path.
Warning:
There is no such thing as a righteous path.
It is merely a less chaotic orientation.
The Demonic Orientation
Warning:
A rejected path in the lower worlds.
It may lead its practitioner to madness.
Orientation #####
Orientation #####
Orientation #####
Warning:
The clan does not reject any path.
You may choose the path… and the orientation you desire.
Currently available orientations:
The Natural Path
The Demonic Path
The remaining information… is not suitable for you at this time.
Warning:
A practitioner may begin more than one orientation.
Primary risks:
Complete madness
Explosion due to loss of control
Death caused by violent interaction between forces
Extreme difficulty
Ares felt something cold pass through his spine.
Not fear…
But sudden realization.
Power… is not a gift.
It is a calculated risk with nothingness.
The Path of Elements
A relatively rare path in the universe… but not to the level of legend.
Those who awaken the powers of natural elements may begin it.
Primary realms:
Path of Earthly Elements — seven sub-realms.
Path of Celestial Elements — three sub-realms.
Path #####
Path #####
Path #####
Path #####
Every gap in knowledge seemed wider than the information itself.
As if what he knew… was only a drop at the edge of an ocean without a shore.
The Path of the Celestial Body
The rarest among the worlds.
Any being may begin it…
but only a few survive.
Initial death rate: between 70% and 80%.
Ares's expression did not change…
but his eyes grew deeper.
Primary realms:
Realm of Opening Human Limits — five sub-realms.
Realm #####
Realm #####
Realm #####
Realm #####
Realm #####
Primary orientations:
Celestial Body Orientation — the most common.
Demonic Body Orientation — relatively common.
Orientation #####
Orientation #####
Orientation #####
Orientation #####
Then…
The final line appeared.
Slower than the others.
Heavier.
As if it had not been written… but decreed.
Final Warning:
You may follow more than one path.
Possible risks:
Discover them yourself.
Everything vanished suddenly.
Silence took over.
But Ares's mind… was no longer the same.
For the first time in his life—
He realized a terrifying truth:
Knowledge does not reassure.
Knowledge… expands the size of the darkness you perceive.
He lifted his gaze toward the mist inside the sphere.
And now he felt something very clearly.
This was not a test.
It was an invitation.
An invitation to stand on the edge of madness… and look beyond it.
And deep within his awareness…
A cold feeling was born:
That from the moment he touched that sphere—
He was no longer walking inside the world.
The world… had begun to swallow him.